Virginia Lawyer Pleads Guilty in $100 Million SBA Loan Fraud

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- A Virginia lawyer pleaded guilty in
a fraud scheme that prosecutors said resulted in more than
$100 million in losses in loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small
Business Administration.

Seung E. Oh, 44, of Great Falls, entered her plea to money
laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud today in federal
court in Baltimore.

Oh used her law firm and a settlement company she owned to
“facilitate loan closings for deals that would otherwise fail
to meet the lending parameters of the banks making the loans,”
according to her plea agreement.

Oh and other conspirators misrepresented to banks and to
the SBA the true amount of money involved in loan closings,
“and/or the true names of the parties taking part in the
transactions,” the plea agreement says.

Taxpayers, through the SBA, guaranteed 75 percent to
90 percent of each loan, leaving the lenders on the hook for the
rest, according to an e-mailed statement from U.S Attorney Rod
Rosenstein’s office.

Oh collaborated with Joon Park and Loren Park, brothers who
owned Jade Capital, a Virginia loan brokerage, in arranging for
the fraudulent loans, according to Rosenstein’s statement.

Oh faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the
bank fraud conspiracy charge and as many as 20 years for money
laundering.

Joon Park pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and is
scheduled for sentencing on May 28. Four other participants in
the scheme already have been sentenced.

The case is U.S. v. Park, 11-cr-00600, U.S. District Court,
District of Maryland (Baltimore).